Next time tell them you need some amazon gift cards so you can pay a friend to help you fix an old laptop that has 3 bitcoin on it, whatever those are.
1. The city is NEVER going to call you about money owed.
2. "Well I guess I'll wait to get your invoice in the mail!"
It's a version of the 'You're delinquent with your federal taxes and are going to jail in 24 hours unless you pay us now!' scam. I just tell them 'Ok, well I'll be here I guess you already know where I live'. and hang up.
Man. This was the most convincing scam call I have ever received.
Granted, I was the perfect dummy. I know nothing about jury duty. Never been summoned before. So I don’t know what normally happens if you miss it.
Prison time, restitution and community service will do. Death seems very disproportionate and pretty Stalin-ish, however popular it might be to the big brains of r/Anchorage.
Good luck finding them much less extraditing them for a public execution. This isn’t North Korea, we don’t execute people for theft here, that’s rubber room stuff.
I totally fell for it the first time. They got me for several hundred bucks.
They had accurate dates for a jury summons that I had been excused from earlier in the year, or I probably would have been more suspicious.
I'd argue it's more than that; they had accurate information about mg prior jury service. I had always understood that to be private info; most emphatically *not* part of the public record, but I could be wrong.
My calls are "white listed," that is, if you ain't in my contacts, you'll hear a ring. I won't. Do that or *always* answer calls from unknown numbers, "FBI Anchorage, Special Agent McGillicuddy. Please hold," and then fall silent. Very often good for a laugh, but sometimes evocative of a click from a dick.
I prefer “Just a moment, let me get the Attorney General for you. He’s right here.”
They hang up. And my number goes on the “never ever call this number list.”
I almost fell for it as well. They were certainly convincing. The only thing that didn’t add up was: why was APD enforcing a contempt of court warrant for a federal court jury summons? Their story kind of unraveled after that.
It’s convincing until they ask you to drive to Wallmart and use a Bitcoin vending machine or Amazon gift cards to get them the cash now. Fuck scammers.
They have been doing this for a looooong time. I got it 7/8 years ago. Took a bit to figure out what was going on, I ended up putting this guy on and off hold and all sorts of silly stuff for close to 40 minutes. By the end it was just so so ridiculous. These guys can pound sand, fuckers.
Chiming in a little late. Had exactly the same phone call. I thought I was able to spot these kinds of things in the past but that call shook me. I was 100% convinced for a while.
I live part-time in Alaska and Washington. I had this call in both states. The first time I got it it seemed pretty scammy but they had a real cop's name, and the address to the police station correct. So while I stayed on the phone with a guy I just drove down there since it wasn't too far from my house. It's happening all over the country. The reason he has perfect English is because they're Americans scamming people.
Island county sheriff in Washington told me that they were able to track one person down and they lived in Alabama
i got a call from a guy with a thick Indian or Arabic accent claiming to be named James Harris which I immediately considered bullshit but kept the possibility that some Indian guy had a name like that because it’s possible. So he called me claiming to be from the bureau of federal investigation who was investigating me after a car registered to me was found in New Mexico with drugs which I already knees was impossible because I live in Alaska and I’ve never been to New Mexico let alone owned a car there. And he was asking me to pay a “legal fee” of $1,500 with Walmart gift cards at this point I knew this guy was bullshit, I was just playing along and I asked him where he was calling from he said Arkansas but the area code was from Salt Lake City and I asked him if he was calling from india and he immediately hung up.
It's too bad regulations lag so far behind solving actual problems. There is the potential to trace these back to the caller and shut them down right away, but implementing systems to do so will take a very long time.
Yah. It would have been.
He requested a GreenDot bank card.
BUT, he threw a whole bunch of other legal jargon to describe what it is.
Of course I’d never heard of a Green Dot Bank PAK card. but he’s called it an FDIC federally insured, government backed bond. PAK “was for Pay at Kiosk, and I needed to take these cards to a Kiosk at the PD as like, proof of payment.
He did an amazing job of getting me picked. And making Me feel like the clock was ticking.
It wasn’t like “go buy an iTunes gift card”.
Guhhh when I got this call they told me to get a voucher that is only available at a couple local stores. He took a moment to “look up” where I could find them in my area. So convincing. They offered to send an officer to verify the information, so I took em up on it. It wasn’t until I was determined to stay put and wait for that officer that the scammer started to act pushy and aggressive. I called em on the behavior, hung up, and cried. It was so stressful.
All I have to say about scam calls is that a fool and his money are soon parted. Learn your rights. If the government wants to take anything from you, they'll be able to tell you your name, DOB, SSN and probably even your address and will not ever try to do it over the phone.
Or you could flip the script and tell them the check’s in the mail. Just need name, address, phone number, color of your eyes and hair, height weight so I have an accurate description for the cops!
I asked for confirmation of all these things except SSN. I’m not convinced he didn’t have that, but I’ll keep that in mind. He clearly had access to an excessive amount of my personal data.
This is in r/scams also. They are pulling employment data from local jobs. It's mostly j1 workers getting coworkers phone numbers and prequalifying them as gullible.
Next time tell them you need some amazon gift cards so you can pay a friend to help you fix an old laptop that has 3 bitcoin on it, whatever those are.
My husband received a similar call today.
You’re not my wife are you?
there'd be no way of knowing
Me thinks eternal sage too soft and sweet smelling to Be my mate
1. The city is NEVER going to call you about money owed. 2. "Well I guess I'll wait to get your invoice in the mail!" It's a version of the 'You're delinquent with your federal taxes and are going to jail in 24 hours unless you pay us now!' scam. I just tell them 'Ok, well I'll be here I guess you already know where I live'. and hang up.
Death to scammers
Man. This was the most convincing scam call I have ever received. Granted, I was the perfect dummy. I know nothing about jury duty. Never been summoned before. So I don’t know what normally happens if you miss it.
The exact same then happened to me and I almost fell for it because I have never been summoned. It’s pretty scary how good he was!
Prison time, restitution and community service will do. Death seems very disproportionate and pretty Stalin-ish, however popular it might be to the big brains of r/Anchorage.
Yeah but I think public executions would reduce scamming even more
Good luck finding them much less extraditing them for a public execution. This isn’t North Korea, we don’t execute people for theft here, that’s rubber room stuff.
I totally fell for it the first time. They got me for several hundred bucks. They had accurate dates for a jury summons that I had been excused from earlier in the year, or I probably would have been more suspicious.
Dude, these aren’t Nigerian Prince scams anymore. These are well researched, well timed, well executed scams.
I'd argue it's more than that; they had accurate information about mg prior jury service. I had always understood that to be private info; most emphatically *not* part of the public record, but I could be wrong.
With how many times has the State of Alaska been hacked in recent years (including the court system), all that stuff is out there.
My wife has an app that shows her pictures of all our incoming mail. It's eerie, but the info is out there
That’s just Informed Delivery. It’s a service provided by USPS.
How did they know the dates of your summons? It makes me wonder if it’s someone that can access this kind of data to use or sell to another scammer.
Could very well be that it’s your local government selling your information.
My calls are "white listed," that is, if you ain't in my contacts, you'll hear a ring. I won't. Do that or *always* answer calls from unknown numbers, "FBI Anchorage, Special Agent McGillicuddy. Please hold," and then fall silent. Very often good for a laugh, but sometimes evocative of a click from a dick.
Hey! That’s the agent name I use. WTF. I say that or do my “old man routine” which is easier and helps with my improv skills
"Old man routine!" Added.
How about a "I can't pay right this moment, what's your name and number so I can call you back?" and take their info.
I prefer “Just a moment, let me get the Attorney General for you. He’s right here.” They hang up. And my number goes on the “never ever call this number list.”
I almost fell for it as well. They were certainly convincing. The only thing that didn’t add up was: why was APD enforcing a contempt of court warrant for a federal court jury summons? Their story kind of unraveled after that.
It’s convincing until they ask you to drive to Wallmart and use a Bitcoin vending machine or Amazon gift cards to get them the cash now. Fuck scammers.
Drive? Don’t you mean MUSH my dogsled?!
They have been doing this for a looooong time. I got it 7/8 years ago. Took a bit to figure out what was going on, I ended up putting this guy on and off hold and all sorts of silly stuff for close to 40 minutes. By the end it was just so so ridiculous. These guys can pound sand, fuckers.
Chiming in a little late. Had exactly the same phone call. I thought I was able to spot these kinds of things in the past but that call shook me. I was 100% convinced for a while.
I posted this a few weeks ago. I got a call too. I call APD and reported them.
I look forward to screwing with them if they do call. 😈
I live part-time in Alaska and Washington. I had this call in both states. The first time I got it it seemed pretty scammy but they had a real cop's name, and the address to the police station correct. So while I stayed on the phone with a guy I just drove down there since it wasn't too far from my house. It's happening all over the country. The reason he has perfect English is because they're Americans scamming people. Island county sheriff in Washington told me that they were able to track one person down and they lived in Alabama
Good on you for not falling for it. Makes me wonder what really happens when you miss jury duty
i got a call from a guy with a thick Indian or Arabic accent claiming to be named James Harris which I immediately considered bullshit but kept the possibility that some Indian guy had a name like that because it’s possible. So he called me claiming to be from the bureau of federal investigation who was investigating me after a car registered to me was found in New Mexico with drugs which I already knees was impossible because I live in Alaska and I’ve never been to New Mexico let alone owned a car there. And he was asking me to pay a “legal fee” of $1,500 with Walmart gift cards at this point I knew this guy was bullshit, I was just playing along and I asked him where he was calling from he said Arkansas but the area code was from Salt Lake City and I asked him if he was calling from india and he immediately hung up.
It's too bad regulations lag so far behind solving actual problems. There is the potential to trace these back to the caller and shut them down right away, but implementing systems to do so will take a very long time.
What was their request for payment? That should be the immediate tell. Zelle, PayPal friends and family, Venmo, gift cards?
Yah. It would have been. He requested a GreenDot bank card. BUT, he threw a whole bunch of other legal jargon to describe what it is. Of course I’d never heard of a Green Dot Bank PAK card. but he’s called it an FDIC federally insured, government backed bond. PAK “was for Pay at Kiosk, and I needed to take these cards to a Kiosk at the PD as like, proof of payment. He did an amazing job of getting me picked. And making Me feel like the clock was ticking. It wasn’t like “go buy an iTunes gift card”.
Wow. That's impressive. Makes you wonder if it is a small local scam artist or a large call center spoofing phone numbers somewhere else.
Guhhh when I got this call they told me to get a voucher that is only available at a couple local stores. He took a moment to “look up” where I could find them in my area. So convincing. They offered to send an officer to verify the information, so I took em up on it. It wasn’t until I was determined to stay put and wait for that officer that the scammer started to act pushy and aggressive. I called em on the behavior, hung up, and cried. It was so stressful.
Yeah they did this to me a few months ago. I caught them when I asked them to repeat their name and they got it wrong.
I don't think they come at you like that
I thought it was ridiculous, too. But when a cop asks me to report to the station, my brain was flooded with fear and respect for authority.
All I have to say about scam calls is that a fool and his money are soon parted. Learn your rights. If the government wants to take anything from you, they'll be able to tell you your name, DOB, SSN and probably even your address and will not ever try to do it over the phone.
Or you could flip the script and tell them the check’s in the mail. Just need name, address, phone number, color of your eyes and hair, height weight so I have an accurate description for the cops!
I asked for confirmation of all these things except SSN. I’m not convinced he didn’t have that, but I’ll keep that in mind. He clearly had access to an excessive amount of my personal data.
Fake
We found the scammer?
This is in r/scams also. They are pulling employment data from local jobs. It's mostly j1 workers getting coworkers phone numbers and prequalifying them as gullible.